The Emperor's heart is won, she sits on the Phoenix Throne! The Divine Physician's Eldest

"Miss Song, don't embarrass yourself!"

"If the spirit of Marquis Zhenbei knew that you had done something so shameful as to use fake exam papers to fool everyone, he would probably be so angry that he would lift up his coffin, get up, and beat you up!"

"Trying to fool us with a fake exam paper? Do you think we're stupid?"

"Your Excellency, you must severely punish Song Siyao!"

"Miss Song disrupted the assessment by using a fake exam paper, which is a serious offense. In my opinion, she should be banned from taking any exams in the future!"

"get out!"

……

There was a chorus of curses all around.

They were shouting menacingly, as if they wanted to tear Song Siyao to pieces.

Song Siyao was caught in the middle of it all. Her gaze swept across the room, etching every person who had insulted her into her heart.

Emperor Changlong ordered Wang Fu to personally deliver the examination papers, along with an imperial edict. These people still couldn't see through the intricacies of the matter and continued to curse incessantly, truly foolish.

That answer sheet was too perfect; in their minds, Song Siyao could never have done it.

After all, how could Song Siyao, who was a fool just a few months ago, become an all-around genius in just a few months?

Therefore, that answer sheet must be fake.

But how could they have imagined that Song Siyao was far more powerful than they had thought?

Song Siyao stared intently at them until the cursing stopped.

She unfolded the examination papers that Wang Fu had brought, slammed them on the table, and said to Grand Tutor Su, "Grand Tutor, open your old eyes and take a look. What's the difference between these two examination papers?"

When Su Taifu's gaze fell on the examination paper that Wang Fu had brought, his face turned pale instantly, and he swayed, almost losing his balance.

He didn't even realize that Song Siyao had cursed at him.

A moment later, he picked up the two exam papers, brought them close to his eyes, stared at them intently, and muttered, "Impossible! This is absolutely impossible! How can these two exam papers be exactly the same?!"

Others also gathered around, their eyes all focused on the two exam papers.

They gasped in surprise.

"The exam paper that Eunuch Wang sent had a name on it, which read Song Siyao."

"There is also the date for the exam: the first day of the ninth month in the twentieth year of Changlong, which is half a month earlier than the academy's official assessment."

"Does that mean that Miss Song Er had already completed this exam paper half a month before the academy's official assessment?"

"It even has the Emperor's jade seal on it, so it can't be wrong."

"This means that the Emperor had already seen Miss Song's exam paper, but just now everyone didn't believe her and even scolded her, saying such awful things..."

"I didn't insult her, you were the ones who did."

……

In an instant, the room fell into a deathly silence.

It was so quiet that you could hear the breathing and heartbeat of the person next to you.

They finally realized the seriousness of the situation.

Grand Tutor Su looked at Song Siyao as if she were a raging flood or a ferocious beast.

He asked, "Miss Song, did you take this exam before the assessment?"

"That's right, it was done in front of the Emperor."

Two weeks before the exam, Emperor Changlong summoned Song Siyao to the palace and gave her an exam paper.

Song Siyao completed the exam paper in front of Emperor Changlong. When Emperor Changlong looked at the answers, he was no less shocked than the people who had just been surprised.

At the same time, Song Siyao proposed a plan.

She set up a scheme, entered into it herself, and made Emperor Changlong act in a play with her.

Grand Tutor Su looked at Yan Wei and angrily questioned, "Yan Wei, why did you hide Miss Song's exam paper? What are your true intentions?"

Yan Wei said sarcastically, "I didn't hide Miss Song's exam paper. Someone wanted to destroy it, so they threw it away, and then I picked it up."

"You're talking nonsense! Who would deliberately damage Miss Song's exam paper? I think you're the one who's up to it!" Grand Tutor Su shouted.

“I asked Mr. Yan to hide it,” Song Siyao said.

After learning that Song Siyao had completed the academy's examination paper half a month ago, Grand Tutor Su knew that this was a scheme orchestrated by Song Siyao.

He certainly didn't want Song Siyao to succeed, so he decided to shift the blame.

"Miss Song, what are your true intentions in conspiring with Yan Wei to play tricks on everyone?"

"What do you mean by playing tricks on everyone? The answers on both exam papers are exactly the same. If my second exam paper doesn't become blank, the first exam paper won't even appear."

Song Siyao's voice was icy cold, "You're blaming me now for not telling you I took the exam once, simply because your act of destroying my exam paper has been exposed. You're worried and afraid for yourselves. If I had told you I had already taken the exam once, would you still have dared to destroy my exam paper?"

The rest of the group remained silent.

Grand Tutor Su asked in a deep voice, "Miss Song, who deliberately damaged your exam paper? Produce evidence! If you cannot, then you are just making excuses for your misconduct!"

"Minister Dong, shall you speak for yourself, or shall I speak for you?" Song Siyao's gaze fell on Dong Sheng, who was hiding behind Grand Tutor Su.

Minister Dong was the Minister of Justice.

"Miss Song, I have no idea what you are talking about." Dong Sheng remained calm, maintaining his official demeanor, his face serious.

"Didn't you deliberately knock my inkstone over when you were handing out the exam papers? How could you not know?" Song Siyao asked coldly.

Dong Sheng's expression changed slightly, but he quickly calmed down. However, the fleeting panic in his eyes did not escape Song Siyao's notice.

He raised his voice to explain, "Miss Song, the examination hall was crowded, and I accidentally knocked your inkstone off. I immediately had someone replace it for you, and it didn't affect your subsequent exams. Why are you still holding a grudge against me?"

"Since Lord Dong doesn't want to say it himself, then I'll have to do it for him. If I say it, the nature of the matter will change, and it won't count as you being granted leniency for confessing."

Song Siyao, calm and collected, recounted the events with an air of strategic brilliance.

“On the day of the exam, you deliberately knocked my inkstone over. Afterwards, you immediately replaced it with a new one. The problem was that the ink in the new inkstone had a special chemical added to it, called ‘Ink Loss’.”

"Lost ink, as the name suggests, refers to ink marks that have disappeared."

"The duration for which the writing remains clear varies depending on the proportion of ink loss."

"The ink in the inkstone you gave me is only enough to keep the writing intact for two hours and a quarter of an hour. Once the time is up, the ink will disappear completely, and my completed exam paper will become a blank paper."

"That's why everyone saw that even though I had already finished the exam paper in the exam room, Yan Wei still took out a blank paper just now."

"When I was answering the questions in the exam room, Yan Wei wasn't the only one who saw that I had finished answering them all."

Song Siyao swept his gaze over everyone. "Among you all, at least half of you saw that I finished the exam paper in the examination room, but not one of you pointed it out that my exam paper was blank when it was being graded."

Those who were hit by her words dared not utter a sound, dared not look her in the eye, and silently lowered their heads.

She continued, "When it came time to review the papers, Lord Dong, you were worried that things would be exposed and that someone would examine the blank papers. Just like we did with the wine, vinegar, and special potion earlier, to ensure that nothing went wrong, you replaced my blank paper with a real blank paper that you had prepared in advance. Then, you handed my blank paper to the person who delivered your meal and asked him to take it out and destroy it."

They were very strict when grading papers. All graders were required to stay in one courtyard and were not allowed to leave.

However, the person delivering the meals is allowed to come in.

"That's utter nonsense!"

Dong Sheng thought he had done something flawlessly, but even now, he still refused to admit it.

He warned Song Siyao, "Miss Song, these are just your inferences. You have no real evidence. I can sue you for defamation, for defaming a court official. You'll be in jail. For the sake of the Marquis of Zhenbei, I can let you off the hook. This farce ends here. Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!"

Song Siyao remained calm and composed. "Lord Dong, do you think you can rest easy now that the person who delivered your meals is gone?"

Dong Sheng stared at Song Siyao, trying to find clues on her face, but he found that he couldn't see through her.

Then, he gave a cold laugh, "Miss Song, I am the Minister of Justice, and I am very familiar with the laws of the Great Zhou. No matter how much you say, without evidence, you still can't do anything to me."

"Lord Dong, knowingly breaking the law is an even greater offense. Remember what you just said." Song Siyao instructed Cang Yue, "Cang Yue, bring the delivery person up!"